Vegas recap - Saturday

My 2nd trip to Vegas, will vastly different than my first trip, was a lot of fun. I love that city. Becca and I have already decided to go back, probably in July after the WS0P.

My first trip was poker dotted with a couple hours of sleep and a couple shows at night; this trip was much more centered on spending time with the SO, dotted by a little poker and a couple shows.

Uneventful flight on Saturday, and we were able to check in right around noon, which was nice. After a little lunch we walked through the Luxor, over through Mandalay bay, gazed at the pool, checked out menus for possible dinners. I couldn't believe how many chicks in wedding dresses we saw. Thankfully they didn't cause Rebecca to start seeing a wedding chapel in our future. Phew.

She wanted to play some slots, so she put $5 into a quarter machine and started spinning. When she was done I put $1 into the quarter machine next to her; played all 4 credits on one spin and won 2 credits. I played all 5 credits on the next spin and won $22.25 and immediately cashed out. I've never won on a slot machine before.

-EV games: +$21.25.

We walked over through MGM, and to the monorail, off at the Flamingo to pick up our tickets to X-Burlesque. From there we walked to Venetian so I could play some poker. Was a really gorgeous afternoon - 65 degrees, sunny, a touch of a breeze... especially compared to the 45-degree rainy gray we've gotten used to in Seattle, it was perfect!

I played at the Venetian briefly my last trip, and remember the game feeling small - but that was probably because I had come from playing the $1/$3 at Caesars.

This trip, it felt much like the Tulalip game I usually play, but with a little better players (probably due to a couple Vegas regulars that were at the table). The game was strange for a while - I won way more hands than I should have the first hour, with no show downs. I was getting more respect than I expected, and definitely more than I deserved. There were weak players who would buckle to pressure (like when I reraised from position with air on a paired raggy board and the original raiser folded queens face-up), a calling station that didn't fold anything preflop (literally - played 100% of hands at least to the flop)...

I lost one fairly decent sized pot to an opponent with Qh3h after I flopped top two; turn put 2 hearts on the board and the 3rd heart came on the river. I didn't mind much losing the pot since he chased a backdoor flush draw. The guy was "helpful" enough to tell me that I didn't bet enough on the turn for him to lay it down, that even if he got an extra $30 on the river it was worth calling. I didn't bother telling him that he only had 7 of the 9 outs he thought he did (as the Ah or Kh would've boated me up), or asking how he called on the flop with undercards and a backdoor draw - I want those calls all the time.

I left after a couple hours, down $115 (which was a bummer as I was up about $100 at one point - the flush hand actually cost me $140). Small losses don't phase me anymore, though my girlfriend seemed surprised I was so casual about losing that amount. No, she's not a poker player, or really much of a gambler.

--------------
Saturday evening - X Burlesque at the Flamingo.

Well.

Their production video is really great - show looks good, dancers look energetic and hot.

Sadly, the 60-second video was much better than the show itself. Tucked into this tiny little theater, the tacky-factor is sky-high. And unfortunately, the dancers are just -- not that good. Shakeera carried the show: her dancing was engaging, energetic, fun to watch - she was committed to every move she made. The others? Not-so-hot. Bec and I after the show referred to one as "the comotose blonde," but really all (save for Shakeera and the one with the biggest and most obvious fake tits) lacked so much energy and sex appeal.

All had awesome bodies - awesome bodies, so that wasn't hard to take. But - watching hot women who appear bored and dead-tired prance around a cheesey-looking stage with crappy set decoration just isn't my idea of fun. Add to that the really bad comedian that did a too-long routine half way through the show (James Bean), and being charged $5.77 for a sprite (no vodka, just sprite), that part of the evening was quite a let down.

The good part? Bec and I were able to sit in the back of the theatre, side-by-side, so we were able to talk to each other throughout the show, making fun of the dancers (except Shakeera, who we both thought was hot), laughing, etc. That part was fun. The show? Not so much.